Am I right to be annoyed with PM here?

Bought a property through a buyers agent three years ago and their PM has been managing since. The alarm went off at night and had to be disarmed by an electrician, as it was late the bill was $450.

The current tenants have said they were told the system was disarmed when they moved in and as such, were not given a code. I’m annoyed they weren’t given a code anyway, and also that the system was not actually disarmed. Surely I’m paying them to manage this sort of thing? If anything needed to be done with the alarm I would have done it, during normal hours. Instead I’m now paying a rather hefty bill for no improvement to the property. It’s of course a huge inconvenience to the tenants as well to have an alarm go off at night. I feel like as they’ve been managing this since purchase they should really have not allowed it to happen.

Is it just one of those things and I’m being unreasonable?

 

As a PM, I had this happen a few years ago. The old alarm system was not decommissioned but was still plugged into the power. Noone was aware it was active as the panel was not active.

Late one afternoon it decided to have a hissy.

Emergency electrician called out at a ridiculous cost and extra to go into the roofspace and more again to disconnect.

 

Why would the PM be expected to know these things if you didn't? Genuine question.

Normally you would be the one instructing your PM as to the condition of the house at the point of engagement wouldn't you?

 

This was done mostly through the buyers agent (as I said, same business), sounds like I was in the wrong in allowing that to happen and should have been more hands on. I never told them the alarm was disarmed, I thought it was armed and as such they would have the code. Instead they were told it was disarmed and as such not given the code. I’d like to prevent this happening again. Apparently it is now disarmed, should I get another electrician out to check?

 

Most alarm systems have tamper switches built into the key components of the alarm system, and its to stop burglars simply from removing the outside alarm/flashing light/sensor etc
Over time the tamper switches eventually fail and as long a power is connected to the unit it will then activate, regardless if its armed or disarmed.
Unless the alarm sirens are completely disconnected from all power sources, there is always a risk of the siren activating.

 

Thank you, that’s good to know. It was apparently on a battery so turning off the power didn’t shut it off, hopefully the bloody thing doesn’t go off again.

 

Wasn't the buyer's agent's role to help you buy the property?

One might think that once the deal was done either BA or the REA would have provided you with all the keys, appliance instructions (if any), and security codes/processes at the time of settlement. Did you get a garage opening buzzer? If so, who gave it to you?

 

My question is, if the tenants thought it wasn’t working ‘disarmed’ why would it go off randomly unless the tenants touched it. Have you spoken to your PM for further info. Also as it was through a buyers agent the code may not of been passed on. Still when the condition report was done the question should have been had by the pm.

 

I’m thinking it’s because of what marmot said.

I’m going to get the whole thing removed so this doesn’t happen again.

 

Probably the worst thing to do with an old alarm system is to simply try and disable the entry keypad , if the alarm activates there is no way of turn off the alarm siren using that keypad
Its not even the master control unit, that's generally in a concealed area inside the house somewhere with another keypad, all the wiring from all the door/window and motion sensors, and 240v with a rechargeable battery similar to a small m/c battery for older units and many units will have an old phone line connection ,if it was monitored by a security company.
As mentioned before they need to be decommissioned by someone that has had experience with alarm systems with the power source disconnected to both the internal and external alarm and possibly the hard wired smoke alarm.They all have tamper switches and over time they can fail , especially the outside alarm that is exposed to the weather
Many older systems had one battery in the main control unit, although newer units are self sufficient with any power failure.

 

Apparently it was connected to a battery and it is now disconnected from the power source - so should be okay @marmot?

I’ve asked the PM to arrange a quote for the system to be completely removed though. Sounds like it should be done by alarms people not normal electricians though. Anyone have recs for Brisbane? (Near Chermside)